A City Councillor is asking for Council to look into the lengthy 9-1-1 response times.
Many area residents have been complaining about the lengthy time it takes to receive help after calling 9-1-1.
One Toronto City Councillor is questioning the lengthy wait time it takes for a response after calling 9-1-1 in an emergency situation.
A motion by Councillor Jennifer McKelvie is slated to be heard on June 26 calling on Council for an Administrative Inquiry concerning emergency wait times.
“In recent months, some residents have contacted my office to express concern over the wait times they have experienced when calling 9-1-1,” McKelvie said in a motion.
Police said more staff is required to make the emergency response system faster.
She said the Communications Services Unit of the Toronto Police Service operates the Call Centre where operators answer all emergency 9-1-1 calls, including those for fire and paramedic services, and dispatch police services when needed.
McKelvie said residents are worried over the wait times they have experienced when calling 9-1-1.
“When someone calls 9-1-1 it’s an emergency,” according to a motion. “The timeliness of the call being answered is critical so that the appropriate emergency response can be dispatched quickly.”
Response times to emergency calls in Toronto are about 20 minutes. At the end of 2023, response times had crept up to over 22 minutes on average. Right now they are about 18.1 minutes, police said.
An administrative inquiry is being called for into the wait time by emergency workers.
A campaign was launched earlier this year by the Toronto Police Association to lobby City officials for more funds to hire staff.
The Toronto Police Chief has said the force has 37 more officers today than in 1999, yet we have 600,000 more residents to serve. He said more staff is required to speed up response times.
An administrative inquiry is an investigation that is not for the purpose of law enforcement or criminal prosecution. An inquiry has the legal right to perform administrative inquiries based on the right to manage the workforce and the right to take discipline.